Archived News from 2002

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12/29/02  Updated Star Wars timeline to include latest Tales #14 (featuring the hysterical "Apocalypse Endor").  64 pages of great Star Wars fun!  Also, Empire #3 and Republic 47 is out!  After an abysmal period, Dark Horse seems to be on the right track again!  Go pick 'em up!

12/20/02  Check out Ringer Reviews @ www.theonering.net for my review (listed under Thesithempire).  Beware all fanboys and Tolkien purists!  Also, there are some fantastic interviews on www.chud.com that everyone aught to check out.  Forget all the insulting, glitzy Hollywood crap you see on TV, Chud has managed a very intelligent Q&A forum (which I wish was a bit longer) with interviews that include everyone from Pete Jackson, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Phillepa Boyens, Andy Serkis (Gollum), Brad Dourif, Bernard Hill, Mirando Otto, Karl Urban, John Rhys-Davies, Barrie Osbourne, Richard Taylor, Howard Shore, Dominick Monaghan and Billy Boyd! 

12/19/02  Having just come back from the first showing of The Two Towers, I'm left feeling amazed, exhilarated and exhausted!  I can use lots of superlatives to describe this film, but I think I just spent myself on the review I posted on www.theonering.net, which should be available to read in a few days (I'll cut and paste it here when its ready).  You can post one too!  Head over there!

12/17/02  1 MORE DAY!!!  That's right!  Starting tomorrow to the weeks ahead we will all be able to enjoy and experience The Two Towers on the big screen!!!

12/16/02  2 DAYS!!!  Can you handle it!?!

12/15/02  3 more days!!!  The wait is insane!  Just FYI, every review I've read has been very positive!  There are, of course, some divergences from the book, but as in Fellowship I imagine they are for good reasons and likely serve to enhance the film...

12/14/02  4 more days!!!!  Can you stand it!?!  Quickbeam at www.theonering.net gives his raving spoiler-filled review!

12/13/02  5 more days!!!  Right around the corner!!  Did you get your tickets yet??

12/12/02  6 more days..... Ahhhhh the agony!  Check out the latest reviews at www.theonering.net.

12/11/02  Look who's made the cover of TIME Magazine!  Exactly ONE WEEK TO GO!!!!  That's right, only 7 days left till The Two Towers!  Anyone who wants can join me online at the Farmingdale, Long Island theater before 12 noon on Wednesday!  Meet me up front!

12/7/02  It is done!  At long last, The Royal Timeline of Oz is online!!!  I'll still be working on putting up covers of titles I don't yet own (as well as finding titles I don't own), updating it with new stories (right now reading Ruth Morris' excellent Dr. Angelina Bean in Oz), as well as putting up Ken Shepherd's amazing day to day chronology of the Famous Forty, but overall it's finally done!  Eventually, I'd like to add a Royal Historians of Oz page and include a photo and bio of some of the many authors of the Oz tales, but that'll be down the road (incidentally, if you're an author and reading this, please don't hesitate to send me a bio and some photos for this page!)  Other long range plans include expanding the Star Wars Timeline to include covers of each of the titles.  In the meantime, I'm taking a much-deserved rest and preparing myself for The Two Towers in 12 days!!!  Give it a look and let me know what you think: Oz@timelineuniverse.net.

12/5/02  Yikes! Time sure flies when you're having fun!  For one thing, the second half of my website (The Royal Timeline of Oz) is taking a bit longer than expected (but nevertheless coming along quite nicely!) and there are only 2 weeks till The Two Towers!!!  Here's a great list of reviews, some spoiler-free, some spoiler-heavy.  So choose your poison and go here: http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1039126531

11/25/02 Expect to see the Royal Timeline of Oz on this site in one week (or less!).  The final touches are being put down and if things continue as I'd like, you'll be able to click on nearly any title to see its cover art!

11/22/02 Run to your favorite theatre and pick up your Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers tickets!!!  Yes, they ARE on sale right now!  Run!!

11/18/02 Just a quick note to remind everyone: 30 days till The Two Towers!!!!!

11/12/02  At long last, The Fellowship of the Ring, Extended DVD edition is here and it is all that and more!  With a more impactful storyline (greater drama, more humor, more composition of that amazing score), incredible picture and likely the most awesome digital surround sound you're going to hear in your home theater (the DTS is mind-blowing!), this is easily the best DVD ever produced of the best film ever made!  And we're less than 5 weeks away from the Two Towers!! 

In other news, Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones is also out on DVD and, while not quite in the same league as LOTR above (nothing is), it is still a great DVD of a great Star Wars film!  The digital transfer to DVD is impeccable and IMO, is right up there with HDTV.  My only complaint is that they didn't incorporate some of the deleted scenes back in the film (Padme's family, the bedroom scene and the interrogation scene were all of relatively short length and would have gone a long way to rounding out Padme and Anakin's characterizations as well as making the romance more believable -- also we can never have enough Christopher Lee!).  Oh well, let's wait till the Ultimate Edition DVDs come out to see what gets put back in!

It's been a shamefully long time since I've updated this site, due in part to a new salt-water marine aquarium I've been installing in my home (for which we can all thank the great fish-king, Ron Capone, for both his inspiration and non-stop work ethic). Once it's all said and done, I'll post a picture here for you all to see!  I have a feeling you'll all really get a kick out of it!  I'd also like to apologize for the delay in getting The Royal Timeline of Oz online.  I am literally only days away from completion, with only some artwork to incorporate to some of the pages.  I won't make any further promises save to say I think we'll see it in less than a few weeks time.  I appreciate your patience, but hope you'll agree that it's worth the wait!

10/25/02  Updated Star Wars Timeline to include Tales #13 info.  Putting the finishing touches on The Royal Timeline of Oz.  We should see that out within the next couple of days!!  I will then take a short break (save but to maintain regular updates here) to enjoy both the Extended DVD of LOTR and Episode II: Attack of the Clones!  Two new young readers Star Wars books are out: Boba Fett: Crossfire and Jedi Quest: The Master of Disguise.  Go get 'em and if you'd like, drop me a line and let me know what you think!

10/21/02  Just completed reading and reviewing the newest Oz book, "The Silver Sorceress of Oz" for the Baum Bugle.  While you'll have to wait for that issue for my full review, I will say that this is a fun, exciting and enjoyable book that no fan of Oz should be without!  If you've never read an Oz book before, have no fear, most of them can be read as stand-alone adventures (as well as part of a series) and this one is no exception.  It's available from www.BooksofWonder.com, as well as Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.  Check it out!

10/18/02 With increasing news of the third Conan film on the horizon, "King Conan: Crown of Iron" I decided to update my links page to include one of the best Conan websites out there, The Barbarian Keep.  Of course, it's focus is on the books written by Robert E. Howard, but the films are also represented (including an excellent examination of the first one).  More interestingly is the still-raging controversy over L. Sprague DeCamp's heavy handed editing and re-writing of the original Howard tales, as well as the difficulty in attaining an accurate Conan chronology partly due to CPI's (Conan Property Incorporated) insistence on their "official" timeline which apparently may not be so accurate as was once believed (incidentally CPI's main man is... you guessed it, DeCamp)!  Take a walk over to their site -- very interesting stuff indeed!

10/14/02 Wow! November is truly going to be a special month for DVD releases!  Check out these fantastic reviews of the Special Edition LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring: Extended Edition DVD: (Warning some spoilers!) http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1034494568 and http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1034573711 . Both from my favorite site, Theonering.net. Less than a month to go!!!

10/12/02 Another rave review about Attack of the Clones!  This time from DVDReview.com: http://www.dvdreview.com/fullreviews/star_wars__episode_ii__the_attack_of_the_clones.shtml.

Completed text part of the Royal Timeline of Oz (sans Emerald City Mirrors - which as of yet I do not own a complete set).  Art is next and then hopefully by the end of this month, I'll have it up for y'all to see!  In the meantime, hard at work on the new Tales #13 made more difficult by the lack of means of measuring the chronology in nearly every one of these stories.  Calling in some favors, so I should have some correct dates in a few days.  Pick up the new Star Wars hardcover yet (Destiny's Way)?  I'm halfway into it and it's a great read!  Check it out!

10/8/02  The earliest reviews of Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones DVD are available and the disk sounds like it'll be another great one!  Check out this in-depth review at: www.thedigitalbits.com.  Also, Dark Horse's new series, Republic, set in the time frame after Attack of the Clones hit the stands today (Finally!), and our old friend from Marvel, Simon Greyshade and his gambling satellite, The Wheel, make a thrilling guest appearance!!  Anyone interested in the back (actually future) stories of this character during the Rebellion era, be sure to pick up "Star Wars: A Long Time Ago" volumes I and II for that and other great surprises!

10/2/02  Fans of LOTR should pick up Douglas Anderson's new 'The Annotated Hobbit' for a fascinating, in-depth and detailed look at Tolkien's first published work set in Middle Earth!  This edition has been updated and includes hundreds of annotations and pictures from various editions of the Hobbit from around the world!  Also too, some great news on the horizon, it appears that colleagues of Douglas Anderson are hard at work on... yes, you guessed it... "The Annotated Lord of the Rings"!!! 

9/23/02  Work on The Royal Timeline of Oz continues.  I promised by the end of this month that it would be up, although it appears I may have been just a tad hasty in that.  Starting a new full time job can put a serious wrinkle in one's website plans....  Nevertheless, I will try to get it on ASAP!

9/20/02  Less than three months till The Two Towers comes to us on the big screen!  And less than 2 months till the Extended Edition FOTR DVD arrives in our homes from the postman!!!

9/19/02 Considering plans to update this site to include photos and descriptions (albeit brief ones) of each title.  Keep in mind, this is a MAJOR undertaking and one that I won't even attempt until I've completed the Royal Timeline of Oz  and the Middle Earth Chronology.  We won't be seeing The Saga of the Swamp Thing Chronology for some time to come and details still need to be worked out considering exactly how to present it.  On the plus side, we may be seeing The Planet of the Apes Timeline some time in the coming year!

10/4/02 The new TTT trailer is available!!!  Check it out on www.Lordoftherings.net.  Also, here are the specks of the new FOTR extended edition DVD: (from TheDigitalBits.com) 

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